Background: There is little research comparatively assessing prevalence of pain between older people either with or without intellectual disability. This paper explores health and social factors associated with chronic pain in these two groups.

Method: A cross-sectional survey was undertaken in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia. Inclusion criteria were adults either with or without intellectual disability, aged 60 years and older, and currently living in community-settings. Univariate and multivariable analyses were undertaken on a sample of 391 adults with intellectual disability and 920 adults without intellectual disability.

Results: Key findings included higher prevalence of pain in the intellectual disability group, along with higher rates of osteoarthritis, falls, oral health problems, and mood disorders.

Conclusions: Mitigating risk factors for conditions that cause chronic pain in older adults is crucial. As longevity increases, the healthcare sector needs to prioritise chronic pain management for people with intellectual disabilities through appropriate treatment strategies.

This report summarises the findings and outcomes of a 4-year Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage project looking at key policy issues and challenges associated with the health and social disparities across two cohorts of community-dwelling older Australians in two states – New South Wales and Queensland. The two specific population groups of interest were: People with Intellectual Disability (PwID) and those who were Ageing without lifelong disability (PwA).
An inherent underpinning of any framework that supports successful ageing, both of people with lifelong intellectual disability and those who may acquire a disability as they age, needs to take account of the particular circumstances, capacity, resources, experiences, interest, perspective and aspirations of each individual across their lifespan. This research found that the concept of ageing is no different for people with lifelong disability when compared to the general population. However, a significant difference is that people with lifelong intellectual disability experience multi-morbidities at an earlier age than their mainstream peers. A holistic focus is required; each person's needs as they age will be different, depending on their life journey, as every individual has their own story and perceptions of a good life, and their 'authentic' self.
Though a “"person-centred focus" is a legislated philosophy and objective across both the disability and aged-care services sectors in Australia, it does not appear to be translating into systems and practices that consistently deliver personalised service and good individual outcomes across the board. The achievement of successful ageing and an inclusive life is determined by a complex relationship between barriers and facilitators at the individual and systems/organisational levels, and through broader legislative and public policy instruments. A key finding of this research is that there needs to be a "seamless and integrated care system, across health, allied health, age and disability, and preferably across the life span".
The Best Practice Framework provides a set of recommendations to mitigate the present issues and lead to improvements at the policy, programs and individual levels to enable successful community-based ageing of people with disability and those without lifelong disability.

Background
There is paucity of research from Australia about comorbidity in older people with intellectual disability (PwID). This paper examines the burden of chronic diseases and associated sociodemographic correlates in a cohort of PwID aged 60+.
Methods
A cross‐sectional survey was used with community‐dwelling older PwID in urban/rural regions of two Australian states. Recruitment was undertaken via a multi‐prong approach and each subject (N = 391; 236 urban/155 rural) personally interviewed.
Results
Findings show older PwID experience considerable multimorbidity (X = 3.8; 53.5% had 2-6 conditions). Conditions included arthritis (40%), diabetes (26%), cardiovascular diseases (23.6%), asthma (16.1%), carcinomas (10.0%) and mental health disorders (34.5%).
Conclusions
There was significant multimorbidity in older PwID, with evolution of life trajectories of select conditions associated with socioeconomic disadvantage and heath facility access barriers. Greater scrutiny of progressive health debilitation leading into older age and increased engagement by healthcare systems is required earlier in the lives of PwID.